The quantity and quality of sleep and the comfort provided when performing various daily activities is directly related to the quality and the temperature of the ambient air to which a person is exposed. On hot summer days it is especially difficult or at best uncomfortable to sleep or to perform many activities.
The use of home or vehicle air conditioners solves some of the above problems as long as a person remains in the home or inside the vehicle. However, the problem of maintaining a comfortable and healthy air temperature remains when the person leaves the confines of the home and/or the vehicle.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any literature or patents that read directly on the instant invention. However, the following U.S. patents are considered related:
U.S. PAT. NO.INVENTORISSUED6,363,551Flores2 Apr. 20025,733,320Augustine31 Mar. 19985,730,120Yonkers24 Mar. 19985,683,441Dickerhoff, et al4 Nov. 19975,655,237Suzuki, et al12 Aug. 19974,660,388Greene28 Apr. 1987
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,551 discloses an air-flow containment and distribution assembly consisting of a bed sheet, an air duct and an electric fan. The bed sheet includes at least one air-duct opening located near an edge of the sheet, and the air duct includes a closed front section and an open rear end. The duct's front section has a bulbous shape and an opening that is dimensioned to be attached to the air-duct opening and the rear end forms a shroud that attaches to the fan. When the bed sheet is placed over a bed mattress, the air from the fan flows through the air duct and under the sheet to maintain a person or persons under the bed sheet at a selectable air flow and temperature. Note that the inventor of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,551 is also the applicant of the instant application.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,320 discloses an electrically operated source that provides a stream of thermally-controlled inflating medium to inflate an inflatable thermal care apparatus. The apparatus is used for treating a hospital patient while employing active noise cancellation to reduce noise created by the source. Thus providing a reduced noise treatment device for treating hypothermic patients.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,120 discloses a bed ventilator, which includes an electric axial flow fan for moving air between a mattress and a bed cover thereon. The fan and a duct are mounted on a flat support tongue that is sandwiched between the mattress and its supporting bed structure such as a box spring. The duct includes telescopic duct sections that can be adjusted to accommodate mattresses of different thickness. Locking screws are provided for securing a selected telescopic relation between the duct sections for a particular mattress involved.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,441 discloses a blanket for use with forced air convection systems. The blanket includes an airflow deflector internal to the blanket and located near the blanket's air inlet port. By providing a blanket with an airflow deflector, better distribution of air within the confines of the blanket may be achieved, which helps to reduce and eliminate problems associated with hot and cold spots within the blanket.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,237 discloses a comforter in which a front cloth and a rear cloth are joined together at their peripheral edges to form a bag that is filled with a heat insulating material such as feather, wool and cotton. An air-permeable cloth is joined with the rear cloth to define an air passage ranging from hem to center part of the comforter. The air passage is opened at the hem of the comforter, where an air opening is provided for feeding warm or cool air. The warm or cool air fed through the opening to the air passage and is passed through the sleeping space and the interior of the comforter.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,388 discloses a cooling cover having an air inflatable pad, which is positioned within a pocket of a coverlet. The pad is formed of air impermeable material and has plenum chambers at opposite ends thereof, and a plurality of individual longitudinally extending passages which extend between the plenum chambers. Air orifices of a non-uniform pattern located in the lower surfaces of the inflatable pad, direct cooling air in a plurality of small air jets onto the body of a user of the cooling cover. A source of cool air is connected to an inlet to deliver cool air to the pad.
For background purposes and as indicative of the art to which the invention relates, reference may be made to the following remaining patents found in the search:
U.S. PAT. NO.INVENTORISSUED6,473,920Augustine, et al5 Nov. 20025,596,778Suzuki, et al28 Jan. 19975,165,400Berke24 Nov. 19925,125,238Ragan30 Jun. 19925,030,495Neu9 Jul. 19914,939,804Grant10 Jul. 19904,151,658Hibino, et al1 May 19793,840,923Bos15 Oct. 19742,235,966Summers25 Mar. 1941